Perry County Newspaper reports on 9th Monroe case
Cannelton victim named in sex-abuse suit
By KEVIN KOELLING
Managing Editor
06/08/06
CANNELTON - An attorney pursuing civil lawsuits against a former priest
who served in a number of Indiana parishes until he was ousted for
sexual misconduct announced Monday he was filing a case on behalf of an
alleged sexual-abuse victim from Cannelton.
Father Harry Monroe, Cannelton's St. Michael Church and the Archdiocese
of Indianapolis, its parent organization, were named as defendants in a
"John Doe" complaint filed by Patrick Noaker. He is a St. Paul, Minn.,
attorney who said Monday morning he planned a press conference for later
that day to announce his ninth filing against the former priest. Three
complainants in previously filed cases attended St. Paul Catholic Church
in Tell City as children, and were allegedly sexually abused or
subjected to inappropriate sexual behavior by Monroe there in the
mid-1980s.
As have the previous complaints, the lawsuit filed Monday alleges the
archdiocese knew of sexual-abuse complaints against Monroe when it
transferred him first among three Indianapolis parishes, then to Terre
Haute, then to Tell City.
"After receiving these reports, Defendant Archdiocese placed Monroe on
leave," the latest complaint states, (then) "placed Monroe in Defendant
Parish. This is one of the farthest locations that Defendant Archdiocese
could have moved Monroe after the reports of abuse."
"... Defendant Archdiocese did not tell any of the parishioners at St.
Michael Parish in Cannelton, including the minor plaintiff, what it knew
about Monroe," the complaint continues, "that he was a child molester
and a danger to children."
"I interviewed a number of witnesses," Noaker said Monday. "The
archdiocese had no less than seven or eight kids molested before he went
(to Perry County.)"
According to records provided by Noaker, Monroe was on leave in 1982 and
served in this area in '83 and '84.
The attorney expects separate trials for each of the victims to begin
early next year and said he plans to file two more complaints in coming
days. He was away from his office when contacted and couldn't recall
which parishes those complainants attended.